Weathered
by LuxaLucifer
Summary: Luna Lovegood was going to be alone on New Year's Eve...or so she thought. Instead, she runs into an old acquaintance. Takes place in 2041.


The closest it's ever been...had to write about the last day of the year, and it had to take place in 2041.

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><p>Luna Lovegood was going to be alone on the last day of the year. She wasn't sad or upset about it. Her sons both had some pressing engagements with their respective jobs, and Rolf had to fly to New Zealand because of a thestral problem. She wasn't some sort of lonely old lady, abandoned by her loved ones. All of her family was deeply upset they weren't with her for New Year's, even though Luna couldn't quite see all the fuss.<p>

Being lonely had never been Luna's problem in life. She spend the beginning half of the day shopping at a Muggle supermarket she loved, oblivious to the large lines. Everyone there knew her as the eccentric older lady who loved to buy the more exotic vegetables on display, and she was welcomed.

Being accepted, however, was a completely different deal. Luna had a much bigger problem with that. She had her whole life. She was too old to let it bother her anymore, but it was still there.

"Luna!"

The second half of the day was not spent drinking tea in her favorite armchair, as she had planned. In fact, the second half of her day was not spend alone at all. The second half of the day was spent with Cho Chang.

Luna had not been friends with Cho.

Cho had been one of the ones to make her feel like she didn't belong.

She looked happy. Her eyes had Luna's favorite kind of wrinkles, the ones around the corner of the eyes that everyone said looked like crow's feet, which Luna didn't see. To her they were a star's trail, with the eye as the glittering center of the universe. Luna was one of those rare people in the world who was able to get

"Luna, what're the odds of seeing you here?" said Cho, smiling brightly at her as Luna perched outside the supermarket with her shopping cart full of bags.

"I don't know," said Luna, tilting her head. "It's a fairly busy store."

"That's not exactly what I meant," said Cho carefully, smoothing back graying hair with one hand. "What are the odds that we'd meet up here, randomly, while I'm on vacation?"

She considered this. "Probably a much smaller chance."

She began to push her cart (it was hers, not the store's) in the direction of her home, and Cho did a little half-jog to keep up with her. It took several long minutes before Luna realized this probably meant the woman wanted to talk to her further.

"Are you happy?" she asked, as a means to the conversation Cho was aiming for.

"Me?" said Cho, obviously surprised. "Right now or in general?"

"What's the difference?"

"Um," said Cho. "Probably not."

Luna was surprised to hear this. She assumed people were happy and healthy unless proven otherwise. It made for an easier world to bear.

"Why aren't you happy?"

"Jesus, Luna," said Cho, almost angrily as Luna pushed her way home. "You don't ask the easy questions, do you?"

"I didn't know you subscribed to the Muggle belief of Christianity," replied Luna.

"My husband did, mostly."

"Now anymore? My father believed that Christianity was secretly led by a vampire with body hair problems, but he believed a lot of thing that weren't true."

"No, he, ah," said Cho, slowly and very painfully. Luna waited, as she had learned that one should do in such situations. "He's dead."

"Oh."

Luna did not know what to say, but thankfully her cart scooted out of her hands and they had to go chasing after it. By the time they had a handle of it, Luna had thought of it.

"When Dad died," she began hesitantly. "I was really very sad. And so- I was going to suggest maybe some turnips, or a dog, but then I thought- well, I can't really say anything to help you."

"It's okay, Luna," replied Cho. "I understand. Talking about this is never easy."

"Yeah," said Luna, her cart almost careening into someone's shrubbery. "I used to talk about it anyway, but I've learned people don't really like that."

"I liked that you did," said Cho quietly. "I wish everyone could talk about things that pained them more easily. It would make for a more honest world."

They walked in silence for a little while. Luna twirled her graying hair absentmindedly and thought about when she should replace the old weathervane. It had broken the year before, but she still hadn't replaced it. The house looked a bit sad without it, though.

"Do you have children?" asked Luna politely.

"Yes," said Cho. "Neither of them are magical, so they didn't go to Hogwarts. They're all grown up now, but before they moved out, it got a little lonely being the only witch in the house."

"And now?"

"It's just lonely in general."

She said it cheerfully, but Luna thought she looked very sad. The lines on Cho's face did not seem to be laugh lines. Luna thought that was unfair, but what did she know about it? She hadn't been around to see whether or not Cho laughed often. She was sure she had.

"I understand," said Luna, echoing Cho's earlier words. She really did not, though. She hadn't been lonely in a long time. She had had to learn not to in her early days at Hogwarts.

As Luna approached her home, an idea occurred to her.

"Would you like to come in with me? I can put some tea on, the kind that other people like, and we can catch up. The kneazles will love to meet you."

Judging by the way Cho's eyes lit up, Luna was fairly certain she had made the right choice.


End file.
